On transience, sad beauty, and The Western Tradition

[Rick Walker <looppool@cruzio.com>]

Dennis wrote:
"One of the things that leaps out, from the Subject headings of a number 
of recent postings,
is the sheer level of maudlin nostalgia that we collectively seem to be 
expressing of late"


Dear Dennis,

Just to make sure where you are coming from in your otherwise excellent 
and informative post:

The Princeton Dictionary of the English Language defines the word 
'maudlin' as

"bathetic: effusively or insincerely emotional; "a bathetic novel"; 
"maudlin expressions of sympathy"; "mushy effusiveness"; "a schmaltzy 
song ..."


If you use this definition,  then you are being critical of this 
discussion that we have been having
on sadness and beauty in classical music.   I just want to be clear that 
this was your intent.

If so, then I  take umbrage with your judgment.  

I happen to love sadness and melancholia and bittersweet in musical 
expression
and it has been an extremely healthy thing, given how I grew up, to 
embrace and deeply feel these emotions
(without being carried away by them).

It doesn't define the totality of my feelings as a human being but it is 
a strong theme in my own life and in the life
of my family or origin (as opposed to my family 
of..............well....................  here) and it is most 
definitely a theme in my music
and in the music of many artists who I relate to and love (from Debussy 
to Elliott Smith; Vaughn Williams to Joni Mitchell)
In my life it is certainly not a weakness nor an 'insincerity' for me to 
feel it and to explore it as a musician.
Quite the contrary.

But your comments got me to thinking about the concept of intolerance of 
emotions, especially ones that
are viewed by puritanical cultures as 'negative' ones.    

These are my thoughts on the subject..................they are hella OFF 
TOPIC for anyone wanting to stop reading now.
***************
***************
I have found that British and American culture in particular seem to be 
afraid of the expression of emotions, particularly
when they are 'negative' emotions like sadness, shame, anger,  etc.

I believe, from my understanding of our mutual histories, hearkens back 
to the culture of the 'stiff upper lip'  
and the puritanism that has been a continual thread in our history.

Personally,  I believe it is unhealthy to repress emotions as a human 
being.   I believe that to live fully that it is efficacious to
understand that we are not our emotions, but that our emotions flow 
through us.    When emotions are repressed heavily......
when we 'white knuckle' our existence.......they have tremendous power 
over us and in the end,   it can lead to abuse..........whether it
is the subtle and mild self abuse of lowered self esteem or the greater 
and more pernicious abuse of violence to self and others.
Grandiosity, by the way,  is just a form of low self esteem in this 
model that I believe in.  It is just the other side of Less Than behaviour.

So my belief is that one of the things that challenges our cultures 
right now  is the rampant repression of anything negative in emotion.
To me , it is precisely the results of this kind of societal repression 
that has allowed us to tolerate the last
8 years of presidential and federal abuse, both militaristically and 
environmentally in the world.

I think it is a very healthy thing to be able to embrace the emotions of 
sadness and loss.
I also think it takes courage to even discuss these emotions in our 
cultures because there is so much
intolerance for their expression.

To label these  recent discussions of this aspect of classical music 
'maudlin' makes me wonder what your own relationship
is to sadness and melancholy...................since you are willing to 
put people down for discussing these things openly or to admitting,
perhaps you'd be into sharing with us what your thoughts are about these 
subjects.............what your emotions are
concerning this discussion.

........or perhaps,  you just used the word incorrectly and this whole 
post is just me
breathing a bunch of hot air.

I look forward to your reply.

Rick Walker